D’town West takes third at District Duals, Henderson and Rustin fall

FORT WASHINGTON — Entering Saturday’s action, No. 2 Downingtown West owned wins over the other three teams in the consolation bracket of the Class 3A District 1 Duals.

It was a matter of taking care of business for the Whippets to set themselves up with a shot to reach Hershey in the PIAA Duals.

Following a deflating loss to No. 3 Spring-Ford in the semifinals Friday night, West bounced back with convincing wins over No. 8 West Chester Henderson, 49-21, and then No. 4 Boyertown, 42-24, to finish third.

Henderson and No. 10 West Chester Rustin were eliminated with losses in the consolation semifinals at Upper Dublin High.

West will travel to wrestle District 12 runner-up, Archbishop Ryan, Monday in the preliminary round. A win would earn West a trip to Hershey for the remainder of the state tournament beginning Thursday.

“It’s great,” West coach Brad Breese said. “That’s what teams that go deep into tournaments do. We took a loss and we had to come back and hopefully this sparks the guys for next week.”

In the consi semis, West faced Henderson for the second time in four days, and a day after Groundhog Day, the Whippets nearly matched Wednesday night’s score of 51-21.

Henderson’s Ray Martin came into the day with 99 career wins, but he bumped up to face West star Max Hale, and came up short, 7-5, at 170 pounds.

“In the morning (Martin) asked me where he was going and I asked him where he wanted to go,” Henderson coach Rob Beighley said. “He told me wanted (Hale). He seeks out the best competition and 100 wins is a great milestone, but he knows the best competition is getting him ready for the postseason. It was better for the team, also.”

After earning their spot in the state duals, the Whippets bettered their fourth-place finish from a year ago with their second win over the Bears this season. West won the first matchup 32-29, but Joe Shafer (195 pounds) picked up a nice win over Zak Reck and six Whippets pinned to cap a strong Saturday.

“I think it was very important for the guys,” said West’s Nick Lilley, who now has 99 career wins. “It’s kind of tough because our goal was to be in the championship, but we know Spring-Ford is a tough team. We were disappointed and it took a lot to come back and get third and it shows we didn’t give up.”

Archbishop Ryan lost to Henderson by 21 earlier in the year, so West will be favored Monday, while District 11 champ, Bethlehem Catholic, awaits the winner.

Henderson, meanwhile, will finish its regular season with a non-league dual against Rustin, Friday, and will use the district duals experience to move forward.

“We loved being here,” Beighley said. “It was a great experience to send our seniors out with. It’s a great memory they’ll always have, getting the chance to compete against the best teams in the region. We over-achieved all year. Nobody had us here and we wrestled over our heads a lot with a lot of heart and passion. It was good for the young guys to see what it’s like in a regional-type environment.”

Rustin jumped out to a 16-3 lead against Boyertown thanks to a pin by Ethan Harkins (160) and a major decision by Collin Hurley (170).

The Bears used their strength up top to win four in a row and take a 24-16 lead, and their experience came through with a couple of last-second scores at 120 and 138 that clinched the contest.

“I think we made a couple mistakes and that was the difference in the match,” Rustin coach Brad Harkins said. “I was really proud with the effort we gave. We wanted to battle against good teams and that’s what we did. We just came up a little short.”